Locals help Gettysburg College to National Championship

Wednesday

Jun 7, 2017 at 1:28 PMJun 7, 2017 at 1:28 PM

Matt Cook The Patriot Ledger

Katie Landry was a three-sport athlete during her tenure at Hingham High School. As a member of the soccer, basketball and lacrosse teams, she opted to focus most of her time and attention on the latter.

Stiff high-school competition coupled with her being a Harborwoman captain fashioned Landry into a formidable player and a key part of the Gettysburg College (P.A.) team that recently captured its second Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship in program history.

The Bullets, who also had Cohasset’s Kyle Burke, a freshman, on the roster, knocked off top-ranked The College of New Jersey (19-2), 6-5, on May 28, which marked Gettysburg’s first appearance in the title game since 2011.

“I know it’s crazy, but it has not set in yet,” said Landry about being a part of a championship team. “Coach [Carol Cantele] told us it will be with us forever and that it won’t sink in until you’re 30. Every year, it’s been our goal. We acted like it was just another game.”

The game-winning goal was scored with just under three minutes to play and was in response to a four-goal flurry from the Lions. The victory capped a season for the seven-seeded Bullets (21-3) that tied the program record for wins and set a new goals-against conference record (4.78).

“We have goals each game,” explained Landry, a junior attack. “Not let the other team score more than six goals [and] not let the other team score two consecutive goals. That was in the back of our minds. Our defense was so solid this year. Defense did win our championship. They stayed strong.”

That defense held opponents to five goals or less in each of the five postseason games.

A 2014 graduate of Hingham, Landry was accustomed to facing off against some of the state powerhouses: Notre Dame Academy, Needham and Duxbury.

“We didn’t really look forward to states,” explained Landry. “All of us knew it was going to be really hard. But at Gettysburg, it was so close to reach.”

Over the course of the 2017 season, Landry started all 24 games and amassed 33 goals and 43 assists. The next closest player in helpers had 15, and only three other teammates reached double digits. She tied for second on the team with three game-winning goals and was fourth with 54 shots on goal.

Aside from her propensity to find the back of the net, or to help teammates do the same, Landry is also consistent. She started all 20 games in both 2015 and 2016 and only missed one game so far in her career at Gettysburg.

“I’ve been starting since freshman year,” she explained. “Coach has a lot of faith in me. She says I run the attack. I feel responsible to vocalize what to do in certain situations. A lot of people look up to me. That’s a real honor. I appreciate that.”

In addition to Landry, the Bullets dress two other local athletes - freshman defense Kyle Burke of Cohasset and freshman goalkeeper Abbie Lee, also of Hingham.

Burke played lacrosse, basketball and soccer for the Skippers, helping to lead the lacrosse team to league finals in both 2014 and 2016. She made four appearances for Gettysburg in 2017.

Lee played lacrosse and basketball for the Harborwomen and was named Patriot League MVP for lacrosse in her senior season. She averaged 12 saves a game and tallied a career-high 21 against Cohasset.

Lee saw action in three games this season for Gettysburg as the majority of the workload rested on the shoulders of senior Shannon Keeler.

Landry was straight-to-the-point in stating her goals for her final year with the Bullets: repeat as national champions.

“That’s always the goal,” she said. “We have to adjust to losing five seniors. It’s hard to replace a lot of them. Next year, being the oldest on the team, my leadership qualities will have to sharpen up.”

But that’s next year.

“I’m kind of still basking in the glory of the national championship,” Landry added.